The Pulpit Commentary — Zephaniah — Section 13

~oe _is carrying on t~e work of destruction. "A great crashing from the hills" (ver.10) md1cates that the invaders, with their engines of war, a.re striking against the walls 1rnd forts. And as the work of invasion proceeds, he me.rks how it becomes concen- trated upon the mercantile pa.rt of the city," El-Wad," or "'l'he Valley" (celled by Zephaninh "Maktesh," or "The Mortar," ver. 11); the mernhants being destroyed, their" silver" and "their goods" becoming•• a booty;" their houses rendered a deso- lat.ion, and their ~ineyards laid waste (vers. 11, 13). _Ill. l'K MOUR~'FOL SONG. (Vers. 14-18.) Concerning this song it has been well ~aid, " Th':'re are no gr_ander verses, none more sombre and tragic, none in which terror 1s more picturesque, ID the literature of the world. They call for little comment. Tiley are to be felt rather than critically analyzed and explained" (Cox in • Bible E~ucator,' vo). ii. 257). ~he expression," the day _of the Lord," so frequen'tly used in this chapter, 1s employed m the New Testament with reference to the final judgment (Jude 6). That day will be a day of wrath to those who persist in working unright- eousness (Rom. ii. S, 9). "Knowiug therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men" (2 Cor. v. 11); "Be ye reconciled to God" (2 Cor. v. 20). , Vers. 8, 9.-" No respect of persons." I. SOCIETY IS COMPOSED OF VARIOUS GRADES. There are royal personages, "the princes" and "the king's children" (ver. 8); there are "the merchant people" (ver. 11); there are masters and servants (ver. 9); there are nobles in affluence, who can clothe themselves with "strange apparel" (ver. 8) ; and there are the poor and needy. Nor would it be advantageous to society to break down these distinctions. An equal division of wealth and rank would be found both Impracticable and undesirable. What is needed is the cultivation, amongst all sections of society, of the spirit of regard and good will. If the injunctions of God's Word were heeded, wrong-doing would cease, the ruler would not oppress the subject, the employer would not act unjustly towards the employed, nor the employed refuse to abide by just regulations. It is not by breaking down the social distinctious of society that the existing wrongs are to be redressed, but by a wider diffusion amongst all classes of the pure teachings of the religion of peace and love. IL L" EACH OF THESE GRADES THE WORKING OF EVIL MAY BF. TBAOED. In vers. 8 and 9 this is indicated. Princes, nobles, retainers, menials, alike corrupted their way. Pride in bearing and in attire, the emulating of the vices of the heathen, injustice and wrong," violence and deceit," prevailed amongst all classes. Sin is a disease, the contagious influence of which spreads through society at large, causing sickliness and ending in moral death. It has been fittingly compared to the Egyptian plague of frogs, for as these coming up from the river afflicted king, nobles, magicians, and people alike, so sin in its varied forms and hurtful in~uence has been felt by all. Ill. THE DIVlll'E JUDGME~"TS ON ACCOUNT OF SIN WILL BE RIGHTEOUSLY .AWARDED A~'l) WITHOUT PAllTIALITY. Princes, nobles, merchants, servants, will be reckoned with according to their works (vers. 8, 9). With God there is" no respect of persons." Here social position and influence screen wrong-doers at times from reaping the just consequeuces of their evil-doing. However justly the administrators of human law may desire to act, and to remove the reproach that "there is one law for the rich and another for the poor," the fact remains that the former class, when pursued by the band of justice, can command assistance such as is denied to the latter, and the employment of which has often moderated the sentence inflicted. But the" righteous Lord, who loveth righteousness," will "give to every man according as hie work shall be." 'Ver. 12.-Searching Jerusalem with candles. Jerusalem here stands for the nation at large. The whole land was corrupt and was to fall, and the prophet singles out Jerusalem as beiug the centre of influence, but hie remarks apply to the people generally. We have suggested here- I. PBOBPEBITY IN WORLDLY AFFAIRS RESULTING IN FALSE SECURITY. Success in secular matters is to be desired. Rightly improved, such prosperity becomes a source of good to its possessors, and through them to their fellow-men. 'l'he danger lies in the temptatiou to pride and self-sufficien<'y, leading men to "think more highly of them1<elves than they ought to think." In proportion as men grow rich are they in peril of feeling themselves to be "full," and to '' have need of nothing." err. r. 1-18.) THE BOOK or ZEPllANIAtl, 1J